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Engine Cover Maintenance

Due to the heat coming off the engine and the fact it is over 10 years old. The underside of my Engine Cover was looking a little worse for wear (sorry no picture in its sorry state). The original covering was peeling badly and looked scorched in places. The material looked like a sort of tin foil. So I decided to see if I could tidy it up a little. Couldn't be worse than it was.

On visiting a local DIY store I found some Metal Tape, which was basically an Aluminum tape, which had many uses, including car body work. I bought one roll for £5.49 ($8) which was about 2 inches in width. One roll turned out not to be enough, so buy two! I did test the tape before I put it on. A scientific test of holding a lit match up to it to see what it did. Didn't burn or discolor too much. Good enough for me!

I also thought while in the DIY store about reflecting the heat, which I'm sure it's what the shiny coatings for. I found some heat reflective material used for putting behind radiator to reflect the heat back into a room. I bought one pack for £8.99 ($12). Time to get home and make a start.

 

You will need the following parts:

Aluminum Tape
Radiator Reflective Sheet
Material Glue

You will need the following tools:

Scalpel or sharp knife
Sandpaper

Recovering

Not sure what state your engine cover is in, but mine was peeling very badly. I spent about 30mins removing the old covering, which came off in large sheets and was pretty easy. After this there was some glue and foil left, so with a rough sandpaper. I gently rubbed over the engine cover to remove any bits. The engine cover appears to be made from glassfibre, as the body is.

Once it was fairly tidy, I cut two pieces of the Radiator Reflective sheet to cover the front and rear area. Using the Material Glue (I used 'No-More Nails'). I stuck down the two pieces, leaving plenty of space around the edge. Next I used the Tape in long strips to secure the edges of the material.

  

Now time to finish it off by using the Tape. Use nice long strips to make it easier. The Tape also moulds to the cover if you rub over it after laying it. All the difficult bits where easy. Just lay the tape over, rub it down and use a scalpel or sharp knife to cut the shape. The Tape is really easy to use and mould. You shouldn't find it much of a problem. Took me about 3 hours in total, but I was messing around a bit.

LEW's Verdict

LEW's Verdict is a little too early to give. I've done two long journeys since I re-cover it and it's showing no signs of peeling or burning. Have seen a bit of white dust on it, which I wiped away. It looks much much better, and hopefully will do the job it did 10 years ago. Not sure how long it will last, but it's cheap to recover and can be done fairly easily. So if it doesn't last, you'll just have to keep redoing it.

If you try this, feel free to e-mail me with your Verdict at kato@lotusespritworld.com

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